Aiming to avenge their 66-60 loss to Marshall the previous Friday, the St. Peter Saints boys basketball team hosted the Tigers Saturday afternoon. Despite trailing by five points with less than a minute to go, the Saints were clutch down the stretch, outscoring Marshall 8-0 to earn the come-from-behind 79-76 victory.
“We did a good job starting the game coming out with a lot of energy,” said senior Josh Bosacker after the game. “In the second half, we let them pull back a little bit, but we just stuck to our game plan and pulled it off.”
With the win, St. Peter improved to 11-10 (3-3 BSE) on the season while the Tigers fell to 9-13 (5-3 BSE).
The Saints took control of the action early and after a Bosacker drawn charge and pair of free throws followed by a steal and layup from Kaeden Guida, they held a 20-12 edge. St. Peter maintained a solid lead through much of the first half until the Tigers drained a three before the buzzer to cut the Saints lead to 52-47.
Defense was name of the game in the second half after a wide open first and Marshall clawed its way back into the action, slowly cutting into the lead before earning a 71-70 lead with just over two minutes remaining in regulation. An empty possession for St. Peter allowed Marshall to get a bucket and take a three-point lead before Bosacker hit the front end of a one-and-one.
The Tiger’s next possession resulted in a three pointer, giving them a 76-71 lead with just under a minute to go, but the Saints weren’t giving up. On the following possession, freshman Owen Potts came off a screen and drilled a three to cut the deficit to just two points and St. Peter used a timeout with 25.7 remaining in regulation.
The Saints managed to force the inbounds pass to a player who had made less of an offensive impact in the game, only scoring two points on the night, and fouled him, sending the Tiger player to the line for a one-and-one. The first shot rimmed out to St. Peter which quickly setup on offense.
A screen in the middle by Bosacker freed up Jerry Soderlund in the right corner where he drilled the shot with 10.7 remaining, giving the Saints a 77-76 lead.
‘The whole place was going crazy, the fans I mean,” Bosacker recalled. “We all trusted Jerry taking that shot. That’s why we drew it up for him.”
The Tigers, aiming to get into the paint with just a one-point deficit, found their shot blocked by Potts. The ball got right to Bosacker who was fouled and sent to the line for another one-and-one situation.
“I know my team believes in me and has got my back,” Bosacker said regarding the free throw opportunity. “We took that time out and They’re saying ‘when Josh makes those two, we will go into this on defense.’”
He drained both shots to give the Saints a three point lead with 3.5 remaining and then stole the inbounds play to secure the victory.
After hosting Belle Plaine Tuesday night, the Saints will travel to Hutchinson Thursday, Feb. 15 to face off against the Tigers. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Local News
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